Wireman

By Pat Spatafore

Now readers can look through the lens and become part of a profession that connects them into electronic surveillance, presidential assassins, counter intelligence and criminal investigations. Pat has served thirty years in both federal and state law enforcement beginning with the Supreme Court of the United States Police force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and a New York District Attorney's Office. Having retired as Deputy Chief Criminal Investigator and who has served honorably in The United States Navy. He now would like to bring some of his experiences to you. A lot of these stories are funny, and a lot of these stories are serious, but one thing you can be sure of is that they are all true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781684988549

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

The Man in the Arena

Monday Morning

The Cat

The Supreme Court of the United States

The United States Secret Service (Part 1)

District Attorney's Office

The United States Secret Service (Part 2)

The Drug Enforcement Administration

The District Attorney's Office

The District Attorney's Office and the FBI

The FBI

Acknowledgments

About the Author

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Wireman

Pat Spatafore

Copyright © 2023 Pat Spatafore

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2023

ISBN 978-1-68498-853-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68498-854-9 (Digital)

Conrad cartoons are used with the permission of the Conrad Estate

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022920535

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in wring from NIMIEN, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

My Journey Through

Law Enforcement

To my wife, Debbie, who has always been by my side during my journey. She is my true friend, my best friend, and the love of my life.

To my daughters, Gina and Lisa. Watching them grow up has made this all worthwhile. I love you with my whole heart.

I leave this book behind for my grandchildren—Nicholas, Milania, and Enzo—so that they know their grandfather always tried to protect the Constitution of the United States of America for generations to come. I love you guys.

My stories are real. The events are real. The individuals are real, and any similarities such as names and events are not intended to disparage any known persons or entity living or deceased. The name of certain persons have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.

—Theodore Roosevelt

Monday Morning

Damn, stuck in traffic already. I just pulled out of the US Customs house garage onto Liberty Street, and it's bumper-to-bumper traffic. It's New York City; what else would you expect at 9:05 a.m. on a Monday? My partner and I were in an undercover vehicle—to be exact, a telephone truck. We disguised this vehicle to look exactly like a public utility vehicle from the stripes to the big logo on the side. It had the same tires, ladder rack, serial numbers, and so forth. Being exact is critical in our line of work; details can mean everything in making or breaking a case or saving lives. That is what we do. We are technical specialists commissioned by the United States Secret Service of the Treasury Department.

Two years on this job, and I feel like I've been doing it for ten. God, do I love it. My partner, Frank, he's like an older brother to me. He took me under his wing and trained me well. I can never thank him enough. He is actually fifteen years older than me, and nothing—and I mean nothing—bothers him. He's an ex-marine (or should I say a former marine, as he always likes to remind me). I am ex-navy, but a marine always considers himself as a former marine. Oh well, if that makes him happy. He's also a former cop from Long Island, so he can be tough. He's a good teacher and friend.

When I was interviewed for this position in 1980, Frank was one of the technical security specialists and was pending a transfer to the New York Field Office and was TDY (which stands for temporary duty assignment) while waiting for the transfer to be official. He was an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) coordinator for the Democratic National Convention in Manhattan. The coordinator basically assigns a military explosives team to a foreign dignitary under the protection of the United States Secret Service, and most of the technical specialists are sent to multiagency explosives courses or military EOD courses. The reason for this is so that they can coordinate and know what the teams are doing and make certain they are on their specific assignment. The EOD coordinator has the very demanding job of assigning teams effectively, and the logistics are crucial.

The New York Field Office was the place to be for both protection visits and criminal investigations. There was always something going on, and it was the place to be if you wanted action. There was no doubt about it. The New York Field Office was a team, and everyone was part of it.

My assignment for that day was to install a Title 3 wiretap for a counterfeiting case in Melville, Long Island. Most people associate the Secret Service with its protection mission (the protection of